By Emma Jemegah
Nigerians have expressed their frustration to the Super Eagles’ defeat to Benin Republic in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Former captain of the team, Chief Segun Odegbami summed up the disappointment of Nigerians as he called for a total overhaul of the national team set up, declaring that Nigerians have endured humiliation for the past 10 years.
Speaking with Daily Sunsports immediately after the defeat in the hands of Benin Republic, Chief Odegbami said: “It’s too bad. It confirms that we are not good enough for the World Cup.
“We’ve been deceiving ourselves for almost 10 years, struggling with the team. During this period the Super Eagles have not won any silverware and the defeat against Benin is the biggest disaster, it’s the climax of it.
“For seven or eight years, it’s been disappointment under foreign coaches and two years under local coaches. We need a total cleansing from the top to the bottom, not only the Super Eagles but the system,” he said.
A facilities expert, Ebi Egbe, the Chief Executive Officer of Monimichelle Group, said it’s sad situation for Nigeria but refused to blame the players for the outcome of the matches against South Africa and Benin Republic but the administrators.
According to him, coach Finidi George should have introduced the highest scorer in the Nigeria league and two midfielders.
“I warned before the South Africa match in Uyo, that the players have been conditioned to play on hybrid pitches while most of the pitches in Africa are natural grass pitches, except Senegal and Cameroon.”
“Benin play on natural pitches likewise the South Africans and that’s where I blame Finidi. He should have invited three or four home-based players because they understand the natural pitches while our foreign players are conditioned to hybrid pitches. Nigeria is not a listening country, if the administrators and the coach had listening, we wouldn’t have been in this situation. It’s very sad,” he said.